SINGAPORE - Ezra Holdings, which provides solutions to the offshore oil and gas sector, posted a 10 per cent rise in fourth quarter net profit to US$11 million (S$13.8 million).
Revenue for the three months to Aug 31 rose by 6 per cent to US$446 million.
For the full year, net profit fell by 16 per cent to US$45.3 million despite revenue rising by 18 per cent to a record US$1.49 billion.
Gross profit grew 34 per cent to US$226.9 million, with gross margin rising by 2 percentage points to 15 per cent.
The improvement in gross profit and gross profit margin was mainly due to the subsea services division's performance last year being affected by a one-off higher than expected cost at the project level resulting from delays in the execution of certain projects and the recognition of additional costs that were previously unexpected for certain projects.
Adjusted Ebitda - a measure of operating profit - grew by 68 per cent to US$176.7 million while adjusted profit after tax rebounded from a loss of US$26.6 million in 2013 to a profit of US$41.2 million.
Emas AMC, the subsea services division, continued to deliver strong and sustained growth, with five recurring quarters of operational profitability.
Its revenue increased by 32 per cent to US$1 billion, thanks to the group's strategy to improve operational efficiency and economies of scale by increasing fleet capacity and optimising deployment to undertake more projects.
Full year earnings per share eased to 4.65 US cents from 5.51 US cents previously while net asset value per share firmed to US$1.22 from US$1.17 a year earlier.
Unlike last year, Ezra did not recommend the payment of a final dividend.
